Saturday, August 24, 2013

Shattered: All those myths about Mumbai...

This appeared in Mumbai Mirror today....

Are we ready to face the
truth about Mumbai???

The time has come to look into the mirror
and face a few uncomfortable truths about our city and ourselves. Forget the
bilge. Forget the hype. Forget all those myths we have created about our great
city. The ghastly fact of the matter is that today’s Mumbai is no different
from any other city in India. The mask is finally off. And Mumbai stands
exposed as just another wretched Indian metropolis that has zero respect for
its women.So let’s not kid ourselves that Mumbai is somehow ‘different’, more
cosmopolitan, more liberal, more accommodating, more anything. No, it’s not. And the sooner we
accept that about Mumbai, the better for us. No woman is safe in this city.No
child is protected. And kaan khul ke
soona – nobody is in charge here, either. Lawlessness rules. And women from
other cities who continue to kid themselves about their personal safety in
Mumbai, can take a walk, pack their bags and go home. Yes, even to Patna.
Because each time they step out in Mumbai, there is no guarantee they’ll get home
in one piece, or even at all. Yup, it’s that bad out there.

Had Thursday’s rape victim not been from
our journalistic fraternity, I seriously doubt there would have been such an
outcry. It would have been just another rape in Maximum City. We would have tch-
tched for a bit and carried on with our lives. Remember, even Nirbhaya’s case
didn’t really change a thing in Delhi, despite the nationwide outrage. Rapes
were reported in the Capital while Nirbhaya
was still struggling for her life.
And rapes continue in the Capital like Nirbhaya never happened. So it is
in Mumbai. But with a difference. The victim is alive. And stable. She has
given our cops valuable information that will help them to nail the
perpetrators of the crime in court. But I fear for this brave young girl. Who
knows what those men were really after? Had she accidentally stumbled on to
something they wanted to hide? Did she click pictures that could incriminate
the men somehow? Were the men acting on their own? Or following orders? Is it
just a case of anti-social elements seizing an opportunity and violating a
young woman because they could? Tough questions. She could face far greater danger
after she gets out of hospital. We should concern ourselves with her long term
safety once she is discharged.

Great cities collapse and rot when then
there is a crisis of leadership. Mumbai
has not had a good leader in decades. Even during this particular
crisis, we have heard mewing… bleating… not roars or growls. Where are those
mighty netas who spend their time issuing dhamkis? Where is the suave M.P. from
South Mumbai when we need him the most? Who the hell is in charge of our city, our
safety, anyway? Does anybody know? I certainly don’t.

Let’s face it – Mumbai has surrendered
itself to hard core goondas who are hell bent on destroying it. Ten years ago,
these same hoodlums were more interested in looting the city and becoming
overnight crorepatis.Today, there is nothing left to strip, except the honour
of defenceless women. The fact that Mahalaxmi is not Sanjay Gandhi Park ( which
is a desolate area of the city), and that the rape took place during office
hours, also points to the utter lack of responsiveness prevalent in our
society. Her cries for help fell on deaf ears. Howcome? Because,nobody really
cares a damn or gives a s**t. Rapes happen. So?

And what do you think will happen now? The cops will parade the accused and invite
the media for a photo-op. Let’s change the story a bit here. Let’s insist on
those men appearing before the furious city without the black hoods hiding
their faces. Let’s insist on the cops doing away with the practice for once. We
want to see what these animals look like. We want to see for ourselves whether
they squirm and cringe when those flashbulbs explode. But you know what? Nothing
of the sort will happen. If the cops oblige,these beasts will probably stare
back at us defiantly, and mock our anger.They will shuffle their feet and
sneer. Finally, it is we who’ll blink.
Because we will be dying of shame.Even though there is really no shame left
here, any more. Women’s lives have become cheap ( onions are more expensive and
precious). Women are dispensable. Women ask for it. Women deserve what happens
to them. From Maximum City to Besharam City. That’s Mumbai today. Deal with it.

*************

This appeared in Asian Age / Deccan Chronicle...

Silencing a rationalist....

Murder Most Foul….

Certain ‘dastardly deeds’ ( how our netas
love these two words!) are just more ‘dastardly’ than others. The cold-blooded,
pre-meditated, daylight murder of a
legend called Dr.Narendra Dabholkar was one of them. It managed to shock the nation…. and as we are all aware, these
days it’s pretty difficult to shock India.We have become ‘violence proof’, as
it were. ‘‘Murders to the right of us, murders to the left of us…” One can also add, “Murders, murders
everywhere, not a culprit in sight.” Dr. Dabholkar was a towering figure, not
just in Maharashtra, but all over India. His influence reached beyond our
shores and included followers across the world…. people who endorsed and appreciated his
school of rational thinking, his progressive world view and his sustained
campaign against practitioners of black magic and jaadu tona. That he lived and
died for his firm beliefs is a testimony to his unshakeable commitment and
vision . Not only was Dr. Dabholkar a
respected rationalist, he was known for his strong views against casteism, and for
the support he extended to inter-religious marriages. Seen in the cultural context of a country
which has, for centuries,tolerated and accepted both, his was a particularly
courageous stand. Unsurprisingly, his movement had always attracted
powerful critics and staunch enemies out
to crush him.His life had been under threat for years. But, as he frequently
reminded concerned followers, he was a free man in his own country, and
unwillingly to ask for State protection against his own people. It was these
very people who pumped bullets into the 69- year- old visionary when he was enjoying
a morning walk in Pune. It is in the interests of the nation in general and Maharashtra’s
Chief Minister, Prithiviraj Chavan, in particular, to find Dr. Dabholkar’s
assassins as quickly as possible. Especially after the C.M. hinted he knew who
they were!

But
will that happen?

I think not.

Ironically, Dr.Dabholkar’s audacious murder( which was obviously a
meticulously planned political hit) has
manifold implications. The bogus haste to identify and punish his killers is
disingenuous at best. Justice plays no role in this bloody mess. The man who spearheaded
the Rationalist Movement in India, had enormous nuisance value for extremists
of all hues. He threatened the status quo and directly dented the multi- million dollar businesses of well
entrenched, well connected individuals running the God Industry in India . Most
ashrams with their dodgy religious
leaders are nothing more than fronts for politicians to launder ill-gotten wealth
while simultaneously nurturing armies of highly gullible followers.
The money at stake is enormous. But more than the unbelievable amount of
lolly involved, it is the inordinate
amount of influence exerted by some of
these fraudulent God People that politicians brazenly tap into. It’s a cosy if sinister
nexus that works for both – those venal netas and the wily God Guys. It’s a
fair exchange - money and votes, in
return for protection and cover ups. Most of the established ashrams operate in
a highly secretive, closed door fashion that does not permit closer scrutiny of
their funding or functioning. Dr. Dabholkar’s life long activism against
fraudulent religious practices , made
him a soft target. That there were forces out to destroy him, was known to
intelligence agencies all along. That nobody acted on the information, can be construed
as tacit complicity in this heinous crime.

Maharashtra’s C.M. is apparently keen on
getting into Madam’s good books in Delhi. Perhaps that’s what made him jump the gun and voice his suspicions about
the identity of the killers ( hint: it’s the same blackguards who murdered the
Mahatma!). What Shri Chavan ( who is known for his sobriety and restraint),
needs to be reminded about is that he may be playing with fire with this case .
We live in dangerous times. Every State is a tinder box, rife with issues that
can ignite passions in a flash. Every political party is in search of volatile subjects that can be instantly whipped up and served
hot to those interested in taking advantage of the mayhem that generally
follows.Throwing politics into the
bubbling, over heated religious cauldron in a country like ours, has terrifying
implications and repercussions. Intolerance and anarchy have become the rule. Dr.
Dabholkar was well aware of the danger to his life when he proposed a sensible
Bill to prevent and eradicate black magic, over 18 years ago. That the Maharashtra
government passed the ordinance in such unseemly haste, hours after he was
killed, is shameful. It’s worse still that the haste is being described as a
‘tribute’ to the iconic leader’s legacy, when it’s nothing more than a cheap
political trick aimed at appeasing the bosses in Delhi. Dr. Dabholkar would
have scoffed at the clumsiness of the gesture.

His funeral pyre had not even been lit when
strident and ugly voices tried to besmirch his name. It is not difficult to
figure out why this man was so hated. What his enemies could not stomach was
his contempt for them and their devious thinking. Dr. Dabholkar was not
anti-religion, he was anti-superstition. He despised humbug and pseudo
religious mumbo jumbo .That’s the difference. His killers were just hired
thugs. But so well planned was the attack, that the motorcycle hitmen managed
to get their target in two easy shots despite the close proximity of police
chowkies and a nakabandi on the same road. This also establishes the lax and
meaningless exercise we call policing in our state. Arresting and punishing the
killers has little meaning, unless the government is equally scrupulous about
investigating and revealing the identities of
the shadowy figures who hired the gunmen. But that will never happen.
There’s much too much at stake. Namely, big bucks and a comfy gaddi.

That catchy old classic ‘Black Magic Woman’
is ringing inside my head and has been haunting me ever since Dr. Dabholkar’s
martyrdom. It is tempting to say his enemy number one did jaadu tona on him and
succeeded in killing the one person who’d
spent his life fighting the peddlers of jaadu
tona! What a monumental irony. R.I.P.

14 comments:

India is a deeply religious country and therefore ND vision and thoughts were,always,likely to be taken with a pinch of salt.Having said that,murder was not at all a solution.Assuming ND was an atheist,the killers were no religious either.

Some women who were kidding themselves should pack their bags and go home to... Patna. Ek teer do nishane. Maan gaye :)

Mumbai has surrendered itself to politicians. The rich guys and goons are just tools in the hands of politicians.

Indian women need to make gender equality an ELECTION ISSUE. They need to make sure that governments are elected and toppled based on gender equality legislation. There is no other way to ensure the safety of women.

"Safety and Security"..it no longer exist for women..thanks to our government for making special appearance all the time ..the way these criminals play with women our government play with words..Guess its time for Newton's 3rd law..

hi the mumbai rape case is just the symptom of the malaise that is fast changing the moral fabric of the society. May be time for us to fend ourselves by using community guards. few ideas at http://recklessmusings.blogspot.in/2013/08/mumbai-gang-rape.html

Pertinent questions raised on the safety of the young girl. Has she seen something? Knowing Mumbai ongoing romance with the dons, anything can happen. It's a shame! I don't feel to be a proud adopted child of Mumbai today, a city I took pride in saying, "We Mumbaikars live in a city that is a safe haven for women. I also blogged about the gang rape.www.vishalbheeroo.wordpress.com

Mill land in Mumbai has become quite controversial & sensitive issue from quantity and price point of view. some 4-5 years back , one millowner's son abducted a woman who had come to Mumbai at odd hours in the midnight, and raped her inside the mill premises. That case was prolonged for years and the culprit somehow managed to escape from trial rape case due to insufficient evidences.In the present case, the young lady journalist deserves true justice although the fact remains that adequate safety should have been taken by her and her employers.

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